The Weeknd covers Michael Jackson as he plays his debut UK show – video

Florence Welch and Katy Perry among the audience at Abel Tasfaye's Wilton's Music Hall show

Secretive R’n’B singer The Weeknd played his his first ever UK gig last night (June 7) at east London venue Wilton’s Music Hall in front of a star-studded crowd.

The singer, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, played to only 300 people including a host of celebrities, with Katy Perry and Florence And The Machine‘s Florence Welch among those watching from the V.I.P. balcony area. Outside the sold-out show, tickets were being traded for £350, a full £330 over face value.

The set featured 17 songs in total from the singer’s various mixtapes as well as a cover of Michael Jackson‘s ‘Dirty Diana’ and his collaboration with Drake ‘Crew Love.’ You can see two fan-shot videos of the gig by scrolling down to the bottom of the page.

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Beginning with ‘High For This’ – the opening track from his debut ‘House Of Balloons’, the Ethiopian-born Canadian was backed by live drums and electric guitar as well as a synth-player and bassist. Among the other tracks aired were the ‘The Zone’, the Beach House-sampling ‘The Party/Afterparty’, ‘The Knowing’, ‘The Morning’ and ‘House Of Balloons /Glass Table Girls’.

Also in attendance was up and coming songstress Jessie Ware, who tweeted during the set “[This] gig is crazy!! The crowd love him!”

Tesfaye finished his set with a rendition of Thursday’s ‘Wicked Games’, accompanied only by an electric guitar.

The ‘Balloons Trilogy’ – which features the tracks ‘House Of Balloons’, ‘Thursday’ and ‘Echoes Of Silence’ – has been downloaded a reported 8 million times and will be formally released all on one disc later in the year.

Tesfaye returns to the UK in July to play Wireless Festival 2012, along with fellow Torontoan, Drake.

The Weeknd played:

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‘High For This’
‘Life Of The Party’
‘Lonely Star’
‘Next’
‘Dirty Diana’
‘Same Old Song’
‘The Birds’
‘Rolling Stone’
‘Gone’
‘Crew Love’
‘The Zone’
‘The Party/Afterparty’
‘Montreal’
‘The Knowing’
‘The Morning’
‘House Of Balloons / Glass Table Girls’
‘Wicked Games’

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